When he finally pulled himself back out of the fans, Pearl had a few words for his new fan base.

"I don't know how long it's going to take, but I want this same reception when we come back with an SEC Championship," Pearl said. "War Eagle."

News of Pearl's hiring broke early Tuesday morning, and Auburn actively encouraged fans to come out and meet Pearl on the arriving plane, which touched down right around 1:30 p.m.

For Auburn athletics director Jay Jacobs, the hire -- and the reception that came with it -- was the final stroke in an overhaul of his highest-profile sports over the past three years, and the end of a short search that lasted only six days. Jacobs fired former coach Tony Barbee shortly after Wednesday's SEC Tournament loss to South Carolina.

"I wasn't going to take no for an answer," Jacobs said. "Once I found out Bruce was interested, I just wasn't going to let him go."

The bulk of the crowd were diehard basketball fans, part of a long-suffering basketball fan base that hasn't been in the NCAA Tournament in more than a decade.

"A guy that's proven to win is exceptional," Jacobs said. "As I've gotten a chance to get to know him and his family, I'm very impressed with him, and just blessed to have an opportunity to get some excitement back around basketball."

Only a hiring like Pearl could have brought out so many, the consensus seemed.

"I heard the rumors we were talking to him last weekend, and I kind of put it in the 'too-good-to-be-true category," Rusty Palmer, a Birmingham native, said. "And then when I heard this morning, I just thought, Oh, my goodness. ... We're extremely excited."

Pearl, who has been an ESPN analyst and a vice president of marketing at a Knoxville-based company, out of coaching the past three years after being fired at Tennessee amid an NCAA investigation that eventually ended with a three-year show cause, hasn't lost any of his ability to connect with a fan base.

"My family and I are so happy to be here," an energeticPearl told fans in his brief speech. "We are so blessed to have the opportunity to be your coach, and we're going to work really hard every day to reward you."

At that point, a cell phone rang out.

"Did somebody's cell phone just ring?" Pearl yelled, then waded back into the fans, shouting all the way, jokingly furious at the interruption.

Another fan shouted out a request to be Pearl's ballboy, a request Pearl answered with a resounding yes.

Pearl had a few more words left for his first impression on Auburn.

"This is amazing. This is beyond all of our expectations and dreams," Pearl said. "Now, all I can tell you is, whatever we do, let's do it together, OK?"

Then Pearl headed off for an SUV, bound for an introduction to the facilities and a formal press conference, the crowd singing "Happy Birthday" to the newly-54-year-old the whole way.